


While our love blossoms

by momorou



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Swearing, flower shop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-11-07 19:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11065839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/momorou/pseuds/momorou
Summary: Lee Jooheon is the kind of asshole who tries to hit on someone because of a bet (mainly) and apparently Lim Changkyun is the kind of guy who falls in love with said asshole





	1. How not to hit on a florist

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [While our love blossoms [перевод]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13159440) by [EP_Entertainment](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EP_Entertainment/pseuds/EP_Entertainment)



> i am #weak for flower shop au's so here u go. i tried.

Working in a flower shop was great – that is, when the customers consisted of old women and people who obviously loved whoever they were buying flowers for. It was, however, not nearly as enjoyable when the customers turned out to be people his age, who wanted nothing but to mock him for some inexplicable reason.

“Okay, how about this one, though: are you a gardener? Cause I’d love to get into your plants.”

Changkyun almost felt bad for the guy standing on the other side of the counter, by now. He had stumbled into the store, obviously trying to look as calm and composed as possible, as he had approached him. The first pick-up line had been delivered with an exaggerated amount of confidence, and while the stranger had looked very handsome with his charming smile and irresistible dimples, Changkyun had simply stared at him for a full minute without speaking. This visibly made the other’s confidence shrink as he looked down at his hand where he seemed to have written down several pick-up lines.

Changkyun had wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation until he spotted the other guys standing outside the window of the shop, laughing their asses off at the misery of their friend. Suddenly the reality of the situation seemed clear to him; this wasn’t just an innocent, awkward attempt at flirting – it was probably just the result of a lost bet or a stupid dare.

Ignoring the disappointed feeling that seemed to well up inside him as the truth dawned on him, he looked from the guys outside to the stranger in front of him, his eyebrows furrowed and mouth set in a tight line.  
“Please leave”. His voice came out smaller than he had wanted it to, and he couldn’t help but look down at the counter instead of at the stranger. So much for attempting to seem intimidating.

The guy stopped in the middle of what must have been the fifth horrible flower-themed pick-up line, his mouth wide open as he looked at Changkyun, obviously shocked by his response. Changkyun merely continued to stare the counter down though, as he waited for the other to please just join his friends outside and then maybe fuck off forever.

“I- What?!” The shock in the other’s voice didn’t really surprise him, but his raised voice still made him shrink further away from the counter, as if he could sink into the flower plastered wall behind him instead of having what was probably the most awkward conversation in his life.

A sigh made him look up, and his eyes met with the stranger’s as he continued. “Look man, I spent like an hour trying to find these pick-up lines on the internet yesterday, and I promise you these are far better than most of what I came across. I should get some credits for effort. At least turn me down properly instead of just telling me to leave”.

Changkyun would have found the expression on the stranger’s face pitiful, had it not been for the sound of laughter coming from his friends. He felt embarrassed of himself; why had he even thought that a total stranger would try to flirt with him without any ulterior motives? This wasn’t some Hollywood-movie and Changkyun sure as hell wasn’t pretty enough for anyone to go out of their way to hit on him like this.

Straightening his back, Changkyun looked the brunette dead in the eyes as he answered. “You could’ve at least asked your friends to hide a little better if you really wanted to fool me”. At this the stranger turned around, finally seeming to spot his friends on the other side of the window. As he did something akin to anger seemed to settle over his features, and the two guys hurriedly ran off.

“You’ve done whatever it is they made you do now, haven’t you? If so, please leave”, Changkyun continued as the guy once again faced him, his voice finally steady enough to seem convincing.

The brunette opened his voice as if to speak, but quickly seemed to decide against it. Instead he merely nodded before turning around and leaving the shop. _He could’ve at least tried to deny it_ , Changkyun thought.

In the comfort of solitude Changkyun allowed himself to sink down to the floor as he let out a long, frustrated sigh. What had he ever done to deserve this. The guy could’ve at least been unattractive or rude or perhaps just smelled really bad. Instead he had matched Changkyun’s type almost to perfection. You know, had he not been an utter asshole who got people’s hopes up because of a stupid bet or something.

Oh well - as long as he didn’t see him again, Changkyun would be fine. Give it a week and he probably wouldn’t even be able to remember his stupid fucking dimples.

-

Sadly, it only took the stranger and his stupid dimples three days to return.


	2. Just enjoying the view

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jooheon is so fucking #whipped for changkyun and he doesn't even know his name yet. i relate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to those of you who read the first chapter and left kudos!!!! i love you

Jooheon was _pissed_.

No, actually, pissed didn’t even begin to cover what he was feeling. He wanted Minhyuk and Hoseok to choke. Not like choke and _die_ , but he wanted them to suffer, moderately, for a long period of time. He settled for yelling at them though.

“Do you want to die?”, was the first thing out of his mouth as he found his two friends a small distance from the flower shop. They visibly paled as he came nearer, seemingly aware of their mistake.

Minhyuk was, as always, the first of the two to speak. “Heonie, calm down, man, it’s not our fault the guy’s boring. Let’s just forget about the whole thing and-“

“I’m gonna _fuck_ you up”, Jooheon interrupted as he grew tired of hearing his friend’s excuses. “You completely ruined any chance I had with the guy. No wonder he fucking despised me when you two were standing right outside the window, laughing your asses off as if it was a fucking circus”.

Jooheon could see the beginning of a pout on Hoseok’s lips, so he decided to shove past the two, not having the mental strength to deal with their shitty whining and apologies.

“I’m never speaking to you again, I swear to god”, he yelled over his shoulder as he hurried off.

-

“So are you just gonna give up now or…?” Minhyuk asked the following day, as the three sat huddled together in some lousy diner. Jooheon had been staring out the window for the last 10 minutes, trying to catch a glimpse of the flower shop on the other side of the street. It looked like it was the old women tending the shop that day, though, so he begrudgingly turned his attention to his friends again.

“Give what up? I’ve already carried out the penalty for losing the bet-“, he started to say, but both Hoseok and Minhyuk were quick to interrupt him as they both snorted loudly.

“Oh my god, shut _up_ , Jooheon”, Minhyuk complained, barely stifling his laughter behind a hand. Jooheon didn’t see the fun in him stating facts, so he merely glared back at the blonde.

Rolling his eyes, Hoseok placed a condescendingly comforting hand on his arm as he spoke: “You didn’t basically stalk him for a month because of a bet, Jooheon. That was _all_ you”. Annoyed he pushed the hand of his arm and leaned back in his seat, glaring at both of them with as much intensity as he could muster despite his eyes being drier than a desert due to lack of sleep.

“I didn’t stalk him. I just… watched… at a safe distance”, he explained though not as confidently as he would’ve liked. As he heard the words leaving his mouth it did seem a bit, well, creepy. Not that he would admit to it of course.

He had first spotted the young florist as he walked back from school a breezy spring day. The brunette had been seeing to the display of flowers right outside the store, and as Jooheon walked by on the other side of the road, he couldn’t help but notice how disgustingly cute the guy looked. Perhaps it had been the whole setting that added to his beauty; the yellow sunflowers he crouched down in front of seemed to compliment the dark of his eyes and his slightly tanned skin. Or perhaps Jooheon had been hallucinating because of the three hours of sleep he had gotten that night.

In any case, it became sort of a ritual to glance towards the small shop as he passed it or while he sat in the diner across the road with his friends during (late) lunch. The florist seemed to work most days after 4 pm – Jooheon figured he had school before that or something. He looked as if he was around the same age as himself – somewhere in between 18 and 21. At least he hoped so. People under 18 didn’t normally tend to a shop by themselves, right?

It wasn’t a crush - this he had convinced both himself and his friend countless times. He just enjoyed the view. There was nothing wrong with appreciating a stranger's beauty. Jooehon just enjoyed appreciating beauty in general. This beauty just happened to come in the form of a certain florist. Who he was beyond that didn't matter. Jooeheon didn’t even know his name or whether he was even into guys (which didn't matter, of course, since Jooheon wasn't crushing on him). Sure, he seemed like a nice dude. More often than not, Jooheon would spot him with a small smile on his lips (that was entirely too endearing, but he tried to ignore that) and he was at least 60% sure that he had seen him singing to the plants at some point (or maybe it had been a dream, Jooheon wasn’t really sure at this point).  But still, you didn’t just develop a crush on somebody you hadn’t even spoken to. Jooheon was a rational human being. 

Now that he _had_ spoken to the guy, Jooheon’s interest in the florist hadn’t exactly disappeared, though, despite it being a complete failure. Instead it seemed to grow even more intense, his wish to hear more of that surprisingly deep voice having haunted him since the moment he had left the flower shop.

“I think you should go and apologize”, Minhyuk said, as Jooheon finally zoned into the conversation again. To both his friends’ and his own surprise Jooheon merely nodded in agreement.


	3. Awkward apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jooheon apologizes and Changkyun gives up on acting like he has any dignity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just realized i made them both brown-haired fuck me this is gonna haunt me for the rest of this fic. why do i love brown hair so much. i apologize 4 being dumb, i hope it's not too confusing

Frankly, Changkyun hadn’t really wanted to go to work the following Thursday. Sure, it had been two days since _the incident_ , but some part of him still feared that the stranger and his friends would be waiting for him to return so they could humiliate him again. Okay, so maybe he was overreacting - the brunette hadn’t seemed like a bad guy to be honest, but Changkyun couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that blossomed in the pit of his stomach as he went into work that noon. Somehow, he feared that the other was aware of the small flicker of hope Changkyun had felt, as he first stepped into the store and started his charming little “show”. That they had all laughed at his naivety as they finally left.

The first couple of hours stretched on for what felt like forever. They didn’t really get that many customers in the first place, and those that did show up mostly came later in the evening after getting off work. Normally, Changkyun enjoyed the peace and quiet, walking around the small store with music playing in one earphone as he watered and arranged the flowers and plants. Sometimes he would sing along, though he enjoyed rapping the most. Once, an old lady had sneaked in as he was in the middle of a verse from “Miami” by Will Smith. Needless to say, Changkyun turned as red as the roses he had been watering.

Today he didn’t really feel like rapping or singing. Instead he opted to stay in his seat, staring out the window in useless fear of who might walk in. Nothing happened though, so in an attempt to calm his nerves he instead tried to arrange a bouquet the way the old lady who owned the store had tried to teach him so many times.

Of course, this turned out to be the moment the bell above the door chimed, signaling a customer‘s entrance. Having temporarily forgotten his fear of who may enter, Changkyun merely looked up with his usual small smile on his lips as he opened his mouth to bid the customer welcome. Once he recognized the guy the smile quickly fell from his face though and his mouth closed.

Instead of speaking, Changkyun looked from the guy to the window. “They’re not here today, I promise”, the stranger muttered. Surprised, Changkyun looked over at him, seeing no sign of humor in his facial expression.

He knew better than to trust the brunette though, so he straightened his back and looked him straight in the eyes as he spoke. “Why are you here again?”.

-

If Jooheon had felt like shit the last couple of days, he had no idea of how to describe what he was feeling now, standing face to face with the florist. Seeing his entrance wiping the smile off the guy’s face had felt like a punch to the stomach. He wanted to blame Hoseok and Minhyuk but he knew he had just as big a responsibility for humiliating the stranger as they had. He had royally fucked up.

“Listen, I’m sorry about the other day”. The brown-haired florist seemed to struggle momentarily to uphold the stern look on his face, which Jooheon decided to take as a good sign. “I didn’t mean for it to seem like we were making fun of you. I didn’t even know they were standing outside, staring at us”. Itching the back of his neck, he averted his eyes, feeling slightly awkward. He wasn’t really used to being this serious or sincere. Usually he would try to joke his way out of a situation like this, but it didn’t really seem appropriate right now. He felt like the florist deserved a sincere apology.

“It was because I lost a dumb bet, but honestly I really hadn’t wanted to embarrass you or anything. I mean I actually think-“ _you seem really cute; you’re very beautiful; I really like you_ , Jooheon’s mind supplied as he faltered momentarily _._ “- I actually think I’m just really bad under pressure”, was what came out of his mouth though. He wanted to hit his face against the glass door behind him, though it was probably a better explanation than to admit he had been stalking the stranger for months.

The florist stared at him for a few seconds, his expression unreadable to Jooheon. Then it seemed to soften slightly and he looked down at the desk in front of him as he opened his mouth to speak. “Okay”, he muttered, his voice as low as it always seemed to be. Jooheon knew it wasn’t really the time to do so, but he couldn’t help noticing how insanely cute the florist looked no matter what he did. He was biting lightly at his bottom lip in what was probably a nervous habit. His dark eyelashes fluttered as he took turns looking at the desk and at him. Jooheon felt like throwing himself at the literal angel in front of him and out the fucking window at the same time. He settled for continuing to stare dumbly at him.

While the guy seemed to have forgiven him – or so Jooheon hoped – the question of how he could go from “sorry I made you feel like shit, no hard feeling though, right?” to “oh, by the way do you wanna be friends / date me” still remained.

“I’m Jooheon by the way”, he said after a while of silence between them. It felt slightly out of place to suddenly introduce himself, but he knew he couldn’t just walk out the door, throwing away the last opportunity he had of getting to know the florist he had been watching for so long. He could deal with a bit of awkwardness.

The brunette seemed surprised by his sudden introduction, which was understandable, and though he still didn’t smile he seemed to ease up a bit. If Jooheon didn’t know any better he would think that the guy looked a bit relieved that he hadn't just left. “Changkyun”, he answered then, fiddling nervously with the end of one of his sleeves. Jooheon watched the strangely adorable gesture a bit before remembering that it was expected of him to continue the conversation.

“I promise I’m not always as big of an asshole as you probably think I am. I’m just pretty unlucky when it comes to who I call my friends”, he explained with a sheepish smile on his lips and an apparent humor in his voice.

He praised whatever higher powers – or his own social inept – that had made him continue to stare at Changkyun for the last five minutes at least, because if he had missed the smile that blossomed on the florist’s lips at his sad attempt at a joke he would’ve hated himself till the end of time.

“I’m sure you’re not”, Changkyun said softly, a genuine tint to his voice that made Jooheon’s knees feel like they might give out at any minute. “I don’t know about your friends, though, but they’re probably not that bad either”, he added with a lot more confidence and a bit of what Jooheon thought was a smirk on his rosy lips. Jooheon felt like a fucking fool for ever even thinking of just avoiding Changkyun instead of apologizing.

With the positive response from the brunette, Jooheon decided to push his luck a bit further. “No, seriously, they’re horrible. I don’t know how I’ve managed to survive until now. I’m desperately looking for a replacement”, he answered with mock sadness as he leaned against the desk with the side of his hip. A smirk found its way to his face as he continued: “You’re not in need of company, are you? It doesn’t seem like you’re _that_ busy most of the time”.

At this Changkyun had the audacity to fucking _laugh_ and Jooheon had to force himself to close his mouth in fear of asking him to take his hand in marriage. “How do you know that I’m not busy?”, the cheeky fucking asshole then asked and Jooheon felt himself pale as he swallowed a sudden lump in his throat.

“I don’t-” – a cough – “I mean, it was just a qualified guess”, he stuttered, his eyes finally tearing themselves away from Changkyun to look towards the back of the shop instead, though only for a moment until he heard the sound of that breathy laughter again, and Jooheon had no choice but to look back at the florist. He didn’t usually enjoy acting like an idiot, but he supposed he could live with it if it resulted in the piece of literal art that was Changkyun’s laughter.

Jooheon stayed for the rest of Changkyun’s shift. When he finally went home it was with a big grin on his face and the number of a certain florist saved on his phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! please feel free to leave criticism or point out any mistakes you come across!!


	4. The king of not handling pressure well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if you thought jooheon was bad under pressure wait until you see my man changkyun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that feel when you love your dudes too much to make them suffer so the #angst is nonexistent. hope you guys like fluff

In the next week Jooheon stopped by the flower shop a total of 5 times, telling Changkyun he had to buy flowers for:

  * His mom (it was her birthday)
  * His sister (she had just graduated college)
  * His friend (he was going to ask out a girl in his class and didn’t have time to buy the flowers himself)
  * His friend’s sister (she had also just graduated college)
  * His grandmother (she was just old and old women love flowers, Jooheon explained)



After Changkyun had failed to hold in his laughter as Jooheon came in the sixth time, telling him he had to buy flowers for his friend’s sister’s best friend who had _also_ just graduated college, Jooheon seemed to give up on the lame excuses and instead just dropped by whenever he felt like it (which was still very often).

On the third day of the second week they found out that both of them loved rap music. On the fourth day they were blasting “Mask off” so loudly in the shop after Changkyun had closed it for the night, that he found a written complaint stuck to the front of the door when he arrived the next day. He had taken a picture of it and sent it to Jooheon who had replied with “goals” followed by a bunch of the weird emojis. Changkyun had been smiling for the rest of the day.

Truth be told, he knew that he was already in too deep. Jooheon could disappear as quickly as he had suddenly appeared and Changkyun didn’t even know if he would be able to open his eyes in the morning, knowing they wouldn’t be seeing that dimpled smile in the afternoon, once the brunette finished school for the day. A part of him reminded him of the danger in becoming so attached to someone as unpredictable as Jooheon but another part of him – a part he had a significantly harder time ignoring – told him to just enjoy it. People didn’t stay indoors when the sun shined out of fear that it would disappear.

Jooheon was good at leaving him with a small flicker of hope from time to time, though. On the first day of the third week Changkyun had watched as the brunette parted with his two friends – the ones that had been with him the first time they met – even as they seemed to beg him to stay, only to cross the road and head toward the small flower shop where Changkyun stood. On the fourth day Jooheon had blushed as Changkyun asked him how he always knew exactly at what time Changkyun would be working. On the seventh day Changkyun told Jooheon he didn’t believe he was a romantic because he had admitted to looking up the weird pick-up lines from the first encounter on the internet instead of making them up himself. Jooheon had then made up a rap on the spot that compared Changkyun’s so-called “beauty” to the flowers all around the shop. They had both been laughing their asses off once he finished but Changkyun feared that his heart was going to jump out his fucking throat.

It was the first day of the fourth week when Jooheon didn’t go home after Changkyun had closed up the shop. Instead he stood behind him as he locked up, his hands shoved in his pockets and his gaze fixed on the ground as he seemed to be deep in thought. Once Changkyun fully turned around he looked up though, his usual smile brightening up his face.

“You wanna go eat something? I’m starving”, Jooheon asked as he scratched at the side of his face. The suggestion was casual, as if this wasn’t the first time they were going to hang out outside of the small flower shop. Changkyun wondered if he was the only one of the two who felt slightly anxious at that prospect.

He smiled slightly and nodded. No way in hell was he going to reject an offer to spend more time with Jooheon. He tried for the half-smirk thing he knew looked laidback and didn’t give away how embarrassingly desperate he really was. Still, he knew it probably wasn’t as convincing as he would’ve liked it to be.

They ate burgers at the cheap place down the road and by the time Changkyun had finished the fries all of the nervousness he had previously felt had faded away. So, when Jooheon asked if he wanted to get ice cream and sit by the river a small distance away, he merely grinned and nodded enthusiastically. He thought he could play his enthusiasm off as being due to the ice cream-part of the suggestion and not because he would spend even more time with the brunette.

“- so Minhyuk fucking kicked the guy in the balls and ran out of the place as fast as possible while I stood there trying to explain that he had mistaken him for his ex. Worst day of my life”. Changkyun was clutching his stomach as he rolled onto his side on the grass, laughing heartily into the quiet of the night. Once he got his giggling under control he looked up at his friend again, surprised to see him watching him with a small smile, one so soft and warm that Changkyun felt flowers blossoming in his stomach.

Time didn’t stop, though Changkyun really wanted it to – it would’ve made how long he watched Jooheon much less awkward, and it would’ve given him time to gather his thoughts to something other than just a mush of fluttering feelings. He knew he had been staring for too long already, too long for Jooheon not to notice, and he felt trapped, unsure of what to do to fix the situation. Instead he remained quiet, choosing to rely on Jooheon to somehow lighten the atmosphere again.

“Changkyun, I-“, Jooheon started to say, finally. His serious gaze made Changkyun even more anxious, though. 

So, rationally, he chose to shove the entirety of his vanilla ice cream in his face.

Jooheon blinked. Once. Twice. Then he wiped a hand down his face, covering it in the sticky substance and proceeded to launch himself a Changkyun wiping it all over his face instead.  

By the end of it they were both sticky messes and Changkyun’s stomach hurt from laughing but at least he hadn’t blurted out something stupid like _“I'm in love with you”_.


	5. Red roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Changkyun is in way too deep and Jooheon is the definition of not smooth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize for the wait! i just graduated so i've been really busy, woops. Thanks to those of you who've left kudos and comments!!!!!!!!! love you

Most days Changkyun’s cheeks hurt from smiling by the time Jooheon left the store. Some days, though, he felt like all life had been sucked out of him as he sat alone in the store, staring out the window for a long time after the brunette’s departure. Not that he had done anything wrong, of course – sometimes it was just a bit too much for Changkyun. Jooheon would smile and he would feel as if someone had punched him in the gut. He would ruffle his hair and while Changkyun knew he should feel annoyed by the seemingly condescending gesture he felt his cheeks turn warm and his breath hitch. And once he left, Changkyun would sit behind the desk in the store, his eyes glued to the closed door as he wondered whether to love or hate the fact that Lee Jooheon was able to fit himself so easily into his life.

Still, most of the time things were fine. Great, even. Jooheon was the friend Changkyun had longed for for what felt like forever. He mastered the ability to make Changkyun laugh to perfection and seemed to genuinely like doing so, too. It was nice - the way it was so evident how much Jooheon liked him as well. There was no room for any of Changkyun’s insecurity in their friendship. Though he longed for something beyond friendship it was easy to ignore most of the time. He could pretend his feelings were as platonic as Jooheon’s were for him. While the nights where he couldn’t were hard, they seemed to be overshadowed by the happiness he felt in the moments he spent with Jooheon. It was enough, he told himself. Jooheon had already given him everything he could and it was enough.

-

They were on their way to the diner across the street once again after Changkyun had finally closed the store. This time, though, they weren’t alone. Jooheon had asked him beforehand, of course, whether it would be okay with Changkyun if he asked his friends to come along. The ones that had stood outside the window during their first encounter. Changkyun had agreed easily, thinking of how quickly his first impression of Jooheon had changed. His friends probably weren’t so bad, and in all honesty, it wouldn’t hurt to actually meet some new people for once.

This wasn’t quite what he had expected, though.

“Are those… for me?”

The guy who had just introduced himself as Minhyuk was holding out a bouquet of red roses. Needless to say, Changkyun was confused.

“Yes”, Jooheon replied quickly instead of his friend who seemed to be not only extremely uncomfortable but also slightly annoyed. The guy beside him - Hoseok - seemed to be in a similar state of mind.

Changkyun furrowed his brows as he looked between the group of friends. Jooheon seemed to be the only one who was comfortable with the situation. “…Why?”, he asked, a heavy amount of both confusion and mistrust in his voice as he spoke. “Did someone lose a bet again?”

This seemed to change Jooheon’s mood drastically as the brunette looked at him with wide eyes. “No! No, it’s an apology. They’re apologizing. For, you know, the stuff that happened when we first met”, Jooheon explained, obviously feeling a lot more awkward than before.

“Jooheon here thought it was a good idea to buy a _florist_ flowers from _another_ shop to apologize for a _misunderstanding_ ”, added Minhyuk, his voice laced with apparent sarcasm.

“He _also_ thought it was a good idea for us to buy _red roses_ instead of literally any other flower, because that sure as fuck can’t be misunderstood and result in an awkward-as-hell conversation like this, can it Hoonie?”, Hoseok said, finishing with a sarcastic smile aimed at Jooheon.

“Yeah seriously, dude, if you wanna give the guy red roses do it yourself, what the hell-“  

“If you don’t shut up right now Hoseok, I swear to god I will rip off your fucking arm.”

As they continued to bicker amongst themselves, Changkyun stood, processing the situation. Then he burst out laughing so hard tears started to form in the corner of his eyes. Once he calmed down he looked up and saw the three friends staring at him with odd expressions.

“While I appreciate the thought, Minhyuk does have a point; you should’ve made them buy the flowers from the place I work at next time. We barely get enough customers as it is, do you want me to be out of work?”. As he spoke, Changkyun couldn’t keep the smile from his lips.

Jooheon promised to do so if he was ever to buy flowers again. Changkyun still accepted the flowers, and while Minhyuk handed them to him, it was Jooheon he smiled at. Still, he listened attentively as the two blondes apologized. He had been right in his assumptions; his first impression of the pair changed almost as quickly as it had with Jooheon. Enjoying the rest of the evening was easy – Minhyuk seemed to master the art of small talk and Wonho was actually a really nice guy, who kept on asking about Changkyun’s job, his family and interests. Jooheon didn’t seem to speak much, though, and while it had concerned him at first, the fact that the brunette kept his gaze on him for almost the entire time left him smiling for the entire evening.

-

Once they exited the diner, Jooheon made Hoseok and Minhyuk leave first, the pair enthusiastically asking for Changkyun’s number before leaving. He was still smiling once the two of them were alone, failing to repress the happiness he felt. It had been a great evening and Jooheon’s friends had even seemed to like him. Really, there was no reason he shouldn’t be smiling.

Jooheon seemed content as well. While his smile wasn’t as obvious as Changkyun’s the slight upturn of one side of his mouth was evidence enough. Changkyun was way too happy to acknowledge the sting in his stomach that seemed to accompany the usual warmth lately.

“You looked like you enjoyed yourself”, Jooheon said after a moment, his eyes shifting from the road to him.

Changkyun smiled as he nodded in confirmation. “I did. They seem nice. I can’t believe you made them buy red roses for me, though”. He laughed as he finished the sentence, his eyes turned down toward the bouquet in his arms.

“I didn’t. I bought them myself”, Jooheon admitted after a pause. There was a nervousness to his voice that made Changkyun look up in surprise. Seeing this Jooheon quickly laughed as he continued: “They’re cheap assholes, they would probably just have picked some weeds of the ground instead of wasting their money”. The nervousness disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared and made Changkyun question whether it had even been there in the first place.

Still, he felt happy. Jooheon had bought _him_ flowers. Jooheon had used his own money to buy something for  _him_. “Thank you for the flowers, then. I like them”, he answered with a shyness to his smile that he wasn’t quite able to mask.

Jooheon snorted then, as if Changkyun had said something funny.

“I know”. His eyes were trained on the pavement below them now, refusing to meet Changkyun’s curious gaze. “You always pay way more attention to the roses than the rest of the flowers in the store. It wouldn’t surprise me if the rest of them wither and die”. Once again, he finished off with a laugh. Changkyun thought to himself that the brunette seemed to ramble a lot when he was shy. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but he thought that maybe Jooheon was trying to cover up the fact that he paid a bit too much attention to Changkyun; that maybe there were other reasons as to why Jooheon was interested in his favorite flowers. He buried the thought before it made him too hopeful. Still, he couldn’t stop smiling.

“I don’t like red, though. White roses are prettier.”

Jooheon glanced at him, before he quietly muttered: “I’ll remember”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit dialogue is so hard to write im sorry. thanks for reading!!!!!


	6. The other king of not handling pressure well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jooheon's still very much in love with Changkyun and also still very bad at flirting #rip

Since he wasn’t as oblivious as every single main character in those basic rom-coms, Jooheon was about 75% positive that Changkyun liked him. Which was great, of course, seeing as he was 100% sure that he really liked Changkyun as well. He had even been about to fuck up the other day, when he and Changkyun had been sitting by the river and the brunette had laughed for a solid minute; it had seemed impossible not to tell the other how much he liked him in that moment. He was happy Changkyun had interrupted him, though. 25% seemed too big of a risk for him to take - especially if it could ruin probably the best friendship he had ever had (which he of course would never tell anyone in fear of Minhyuk and Wonho skinning him alive). Still, 75% was too big of a deal to just ignore - especially when the result of those 75% coming true was being Lim Changkyun’s boyfriend. Because of this, Jooheon chose to stick to a safer way of testing out his hypothesis; one that didn’t involve a cheesy confession or another humiliating alternative, before he was 100% sure that his feelings were reciprocated.

First step had been compliments. Not the overly romantic or sappy kind, but still compliments. Most of the time he would hide them behind a thick layer of humor as to not humiliate himself by being too straight-forward. Changkyun would comment on how awkward he had been with a customer earlier and Jooheon would assure him that he didn’t think Changkyun could ever be anything other than charming or he would gush over some flower and Jooheon would remind him that he thought Changkyun looked even prettier (followed by a laugh, so that it could be taken as nothing more than a joke and not expose Jooheon’s crush if it was not reciprocated).

Okay, so maybe it bordered on flirting most of the time, but it didn’t seem as if Chankgyun ever took it seriously. He would blush or giggle, sure, but it was always followed by a comment like “yeah, sure, whatever”, as if he thought Jooheon wasn’t being 100% serious.

Jooheon was torn between feeling grateful for not being able to fully humiliate himself because of Changkyun’s obliviousness and wanting to fling himself into the fucking sun in frustration because Chankgyun took his flirting as a joke instead of actually responding to it (something like: “hey I like you too, wanna date?”, would be great, thank you).

As a result, he moved on to step two: touching. Which, in hindsight, sounded a lot more like what he _wanted_ to do, rather than what he actually did. After both of them had laughed for several minutes he would reach over to ruffle the other’s hair or rest a hand at the base of his neck. He would intentionally let his hand brush Changkyun’s as they walked side by side or throw and arm casually around his shoulder. It provoked the desired reaction; Changkyun would blush or smile that shy, small smile that Jooheon adored. It was proof enough for Jooheon to raise his confidence to about 82%.

Which, of course, only lasted for a mere two days.

-

While Chankgyun had met Jooheon’s two best friends, Jooheon had never really met any over Changkyun’s friends. He had mentioned names during their conversations but none of them seemed to be mentioned frequently enough for Jooheon to remember them. He had suspected that Changkyun might not have any close friends, which would explain his nervousness around Jooheon and the fact that he always made time for him. On a gloomy Saturday he was proved wrong, though.

He spotted him before even entering from outside the shop’s window. Though Jooheon prided himself in never giving two shits about how “well-built” he was – in contrast to Hoseok, who never really seemed to care about anything else – he found himself slightly self-conscious as he walked into the shop. Who wouldn’t when your crush is talking to some fucking hunk twice your size. Not only talking, but leaning halfway across the desk so that the guy could reach over and touch his face. His _face_.

Contemplating whether to simply give up and run or face his new-found competitor with courage he instead chose the most awkward alternative and coughed as to signal his presence. Both heads turned his way at once and while the stranger had enough decency to seem embarrassed, Changkyun merely smiled as he noticed Jooheon.

“Jooheon! I thought you were busy with Minhyuk today?” he said while straightening his stance so he wasn’t leaning right into the dark-haired strangers face as before. Very considerate of him, Jooheon thought.

“Nah, sucker dumped me in favor of some new girl he’s trying to woo”, Jooheon explained, inwardly cringing over how ironic it was that Changkyun was probably going to do the exact same thing with the dude in front of him.

Changkyun had the audacity to smirk at him before answering. “Sucks to be you. No worries though - Hyunwoo was just about to leave anyway. Right, Hyunwoo?”. As he added the last bit Changkyun cast a small but significant look at the guy named Hyunwoo – which was a stupid name, if you asked Jooheon – before looking back at him with a smile.

The Hyunwoo-guy looked at Changkyun with a puzzled gaze before seemingly getting the hint and nodding. He didn’t turn to leave before leaning across the desk and whispering something right into Changkyun’s fucking ear which had the brunette blushing instantly and Jooheon’s eager to kill intensifying. When he finally backed away and walked over to the door, Jooheon stopped him by the arm. Looking up at the still very intimidating guy he mouthed: “I will _fucking_ fight you” before releasing him with a pat on the arm as he flashed him an innocent smile. Hyunwoo looked at him with a confused look before leaving the shop as quickly as possible.

Turning back towards Changkyun, Jooheon was surprised to see the other’s scrutinizing gaze directed at him. “Did you just tell him to fight you?”, Changkyun asked, sounding as if he didn’t even believe it himself.

Taking advantage of the other’s uncertainty Jooheon tried his best to seem appalled at the suggestion. “What? No! Why would I do that? He seemed like a nice dude”. Changkyun continued to scrutinize him for a few seconds before he visibly relaxed. Then, a small, unsettlingly knowing smile found its way to his face, as he continued to look at Jooheon.

“He is. Actually, he was just in here to ask me what flowers he should get his _boyfriend_ for their third anniversary”. The humor in Changkyun’s voice as he explained this made Jooheon feel as if he had been seen right through.

“Oh”, was all he could get out of his mouth in response. Changkyun looked as if he was seconds away from erupting in laughter.

“Yeah”, Changkyun answered in an all-knowing voice. Both of them remained silent for a while, Changkyun seeming to wait for Jooheon to say something and Jooheon trying to decide exactly _what_ to say. Now was probably the best time to confess his feelings if he was to be entirely honest with himself. 

“Changkyun-“ he started, hesitating slightly. This time, the other didn’t interrupt him, merely staring at him, almost expectantly (which must’ve been wishful thinking on Jooheon’s part seeing as there was no fucking way Changkyun was actually _waiting_ for him to confess).

“Could you maybe ask your friend for some workout-tips?”

Sighing loudly, Changkyun bashed his head down on the desk. Hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i'm like 90% sure that the next chapter is going to be the last - if not, then it's the second to last, we'll see)  
> thanks for reading and leaving kudos and commenting!!!! it makes me so happy that people are actually reading this, u have no idea. i'm also still very open to criticism!!!!


	7. White roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A guide on how not to confess to your crush, courtesy of Lee Jooheon

Changkyun was a mess for the next couple of days. He was dropping things left and right, walking into furniture, doors and people as he time after time was caught in a daydream. Hyungwon and Hyunwoo had both noticed the change as well, the latter seeming to know exactly what was going on after the incident with Jooheon a few days ago.

“He told me he would fight me when I was about to leave, Hyungwon. I think he really meant it, too,” Hyunwoo sounded shocked even as he recounted the incident to Hyungwon. “He was, what, half a head shorter than me, but I was out of there as fast as possible”.

Hyungwon laughed before turning to look at Changkyun, who was doing his best at feigning apathy, though he wanted nothing more than to smile at the memory of how obviously jealous Jooheon had looked.

“Wow, Kyunnie, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you have a boyfriend,” Hyungwon said, putting on his best attempt at a fake-shocked expression. 

“He doesn’t,” Hyunwoo corrected at the same time as Changkyun. At this, Hyungwon furrowed his brows in confusion.

“What, so you know he likes you… and you obviously like him as well… but you’re still single?” Hyunwoo nodded before Changkyun could even begin to protest. At this, Hyungwon sighed deep and loud. “I hate both of you. So much. You deserve each other,” he then concluded with an overdramatic eyeroll. Hyunwoo merely nodded again in agreement.

“C’mon Hyungwon, that’s not fair, you haven’t even met him yet-“

“Oh, look at you, defending your _not-boyfriend_ from my cruel accusations, how cute”. This time, Changkyun threw his pride out the window for a moment and opted to pout at his older friend in response. It wasn’t like he didn’t know how ridiculous both of them were being. Jooheon had been at the store yesterday and nothing had changed. At all. Changkyun was sure that Jooheon liked him and had made it pretty obvious that he liked him as well. Still, when Jooheon had shown up the previous day, he had been his usual self. Neither of them had mentioned the incident with Hyunwoo or the fact that they were both probably very in love with each other (or so Changkyun hoped; he could be reading things wrong).

While he had been a hundred percent sure that Jooheon liked him before yesterday, the fact that the other had acted as if nothing had happened made his certainty waver. Perhaps he really was reading things wrong; maybe Jooheon just didn’t like sharing his friends with others (highly unlikely, seeing as Jooheon was the purest human in existence) or Hyunwoo had simply rubbed him the wrong way (also highly unlikely, seeing as Hyunwoo was probably the second purest human in existence). Most likely though, Jooheon simply didn’t have the balls to actually confess – just like Changkyun himself.

“You’ve been thinking for too long for it to be healthy. Stop it”, Hyungwon reprimanded, pulling Changkyun from his thoughts and back to reality. “If you don’t tell the guy you’re head over heels for him before Monday I’m writing him a sappy love letter in your name and asking his mom to deliver it to him”. Changkyun opened his mouth to protest, but Hyungwon simply continued: “Stop. You know I’m serious”. And he was right – Changkyun didn’t for a second doubt that Hyungwon was serious. Not after he had watched him one-shot an entire bottle of soy sauce after Hyunwoo had refused to believe he would do it.

So, Changkyun decided that the next time they met, he would tell Jooheon how he felt.

-

Changkyun didn’t tell Jooheon how he felt when they met the next day. Big surprise.

In his defense, the brunette looked weird from the moment he stepped into the shop. Something felt off and Changkyun couldn’t pinpoint what it was, which frustrated the hell out of him. Jooheon didn’t greet him like he normally did; with a big smile followed by a hand ruffling his hair or slapping his shoulder lightly. Instead he just walked up to the desk and smiled a weird, nervous-looking smile that made Changkyun frown at him in confusion.

“Uh, I need you to sell me a bouquet of white roses”.

Changkyun felt his heart soar as hope blossomed inside him. White roses? It couldn’t be a coincident, could it? Jooheon was buying the flowers Changkyun had told him were his favorite. But would he really buy them from Changkyun if he was going to give them to him? Well, Changkyun _had_ told him to buy the flowers from him next time.

Feeling the corners of his lips quirking upwards, he tried his best to keep the growing smile at bay as to not reveal to the other that he had figured out his plan. Not that it worked, though.

“White roses? Nice choice”, he answered with a smirk as he walked over to said flowers to prepare the requested bouquet. Jooheon simply nodded in agreement, seeming to grow even more nervous at Changkyun’s smug reaction. Once finished, the florist returned to his spot behind the counter and began wrapping the roses.

“Who’re they for?” Changkyun asked, unable to hide the teasing tone in his voice. Jooheon looked at him with visible alarm as he struggled to form words of his own in response.

“Uh, a guy”, came the vague response. Changkyun’s smile widened. “Someone Minhyuk introduced me to. I just figured he would probably like those if you like them so much, I guess,” Jooheon added hurriedly. Changkyun’s smile fell.

“Oh”. He couldn’t control the disappointment in his voice. Of course, Jooheon noticed, looking up at Changkyun with a surprised expression at the sudden change in his mood.

Changkyun felt like a fucking idiot. He had expected things to go well, just this once; for him and Jooheon to be idiots, yes, but for it to end happily nevertheless. Of course, Jooheon didn’t like him back. Why would he? And now he was so incredibly easy to see through that Jooheon had probably figured it all out; how Changkyun had actually thought that the flowers were for him, how he had been so naïve as to believe that the one Jooheon liked was him. The worst part was, that Jooheon didn’t even look smug or uncomfortable at this realization. He looked guilty. How in the world could Changkyun ever get over the asshole if he continued to act like a fucking angel?

Having finally finished wrapping the bouquet Changkyun shoved it at Jooheon a little too harshly. The other looked at him with a shocked expression, obviously not expecting Changkyun’s sudden burst of anger.

After a few seconds he finally managed to say something instead of just staring at Changkyun like a fucking fool. “Uh, how much-“

“15 dollars,” Changkyun answered harshly, before the other could finish. Jooheon continued to look at him with wide eyes, which only pissed Changkyun even more off. After a while he finally had the mind to reach into his pocket and fish out the money before laying it on the counter.

Refusing to meet his eyes, Changkyun accepted the payment, taking his sweet time putting the bills in their assigned spots in the cash register. He continued to press random buttons on the register as he waited for Jooheon to just fucking leave already.

Finally understanding that he wasn’t getting anything else out of the florist, Jooheon muttered a quiet “thanks”, before hastily making his way out of the shop.

Once Changkyun was alone he kicked the desk as hard as he could before sliding down on to the floor, his face buried in his hands as he contemplated what he had ever done to whatever gods that had decided to punish him like this. Surely, he hadn't done anything awful enough for him to be let down so fucking hard, the  _one_ time he actually hoped for something good in his life. 

The familiar sound of the door opening interrupted him in his self-pitying thoughts. Still, Changkyun remained on the floor, hoping that he could hide behind the desk until the customer left again.

“Changkyun, I’m sorry, that didn’t go as I-“, Jooheon’s voice cut through the quiet of the shop once again and Changkyun found his heart jumping right back into his throat. “Changkyun? Where are you?”, his voice sounded confused, as he probably searched the small area of the flower shop for the florist.

Refusing to get up or even remove his face from his hands, Changkyun merely groaned in frustration before answering: “Down here”. He listened to the sound of footsteps as Jooheon approached, and cursed himself for appearing so fucking pathetic. So much for maintaining his composure.

Once Jooheon rounded the desk, Changkyun heard him gasp as he came to a sudden stop.

“Oh my god, are you _crying_?”

Changkyun looked up from where his head were buried in his hands with a scandalized expression. “What? No, of course not!”, Changkyun answered in a defensive tone. Really, he didn’t need Jooheon to think he was _that_ pathetic. Sitting on the floor was enough.

“Oh. Good. That’s… good”. Jooheon sounded relieved as he watched Changkyun, seeming to search for any sign of tears. Silence befell the flower shop for what felt like hours after that, Changkyun opting to stare at the floor instead of meeting the brunette’s eyes and Jooheon simply continuing to stare at him in some mixture of disbelief and worry.

“I’m sorry”, both of them said at the same time. Staring at each other, they both waited for the other to continue. Jooheon was the first to break the silence.

“Why are you apologizing?” He sounded genuinely confused, which surprised Changkyun.

“Because I acted like an asshole”, Changkyun answered as if it was obvious – which it was. He didn’t have to act like an ass just because Jooheon wasn’t in love with him. That wasn’t fair. Furrowing his brows in confusion he continued: “Wait, why are you apologizing?”

Jooheon avoided his gaze, looking either embarrassed or shameful as he spoke. “Because I lied to you”.

“What do you me-?”, Changkyun started, only to be interrupted by Jooheon, whose gaze seemed to have changed from embarrassed to determined, as he finally looked Changkyun in the eyes again.

“They’re not for ‘some guy Minhyuk introduced me to’”, he paused as if gathering the strength to continue. “They’re for you”. Despite the embarrassment he undoubtedly felt, Jooheon continued to hold Changkyun’s gaze, as he spoke.

“Oh”, Changkyun answered dumbly.

“Yeah”. Taking a step forward, Jooheon held out the bouquet for Changkyun to take and Changkyun did, his eyes remaining on it for a moment before settling on Jooheon. Once again, silence settled in the space between them as they both continued to gaze at each other for a short while, Changkyun trying to comprehend what Jooheon had said and Jooheon giving him time to do so. Apparently Jooheon grew impatient after a while, though, because once again he opened his mouth to speak.  

“This was supposed to be really romantic, you know”. He smiled then, a small, unsure one, probably in an attempt to ease the tense atmosphere. It worked – of course it did – and Changkyun smiled back, wide and happy, as the meaning of Jooheon’s words finally made sense to him.

“I don’t think ‘romantic’ is your thing”, came his late reply, the same teasing edge to his voice as earlier. Jooheon’s smile was slowly crowing wider and more confident, as Changkyun relaxed as well.

“Does that mean you won’t date me?”

Changkyun would’ve made a big show out of actually thinking about his answer to further tease the brunette, had he not been over the moon about the prospect of dating Lee Jooheon.

“No”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter to go!!!! idk how to feel about this chapter so please leave any criticism you may have in the comments  
> and thanks to those of you who've left comments and kudos on the previous chapter ily


	8. Dating Lee Jooheon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A month of dating later, Changkyun finally gets to visit Jooheon's place

Dating Lee Jooheon seemed like something that would take a lot of effort. The older boy needed as much attention as possible, always finding some way for Changkyun to spend time with him. You would think it would be tiring to be spend so much time with one person. For Changkyun, though, it was everything he needed. For him, it was effortless to let himself be led by Jooheon, not having to constantly worry about whether he was doing enough or too much, but instead merely letting himself be pulled along as Jooheon set the pace. Nothing felt rushed or lacking; Jooheon met Changkyun’s friends, Hyungwon and Hyunwoo, after Jooheon had asked to, before Changkyun could even start worrying about whether it was weird, and he met his mother after Jooheon asked if Changkyun wanted him to or not. Everything had been so easy. Most of the time, at least. Jooheon was still human and Changkyun had the habit of stressing over the smallest things which resulted in a couple of misunderstandings along the way (which really shouldn’t come as a surprise, seeing as both their friendship and relationship began because of said misunderstandings).

-

“Lee Jooheon, I hate you”

His boyfriend sighed, obviously not convinced despite Changkyun’s serious tone of voice. “No, you don’t”.

“No, seriously, I really hate you”, he persisted, taking a step away when Jooheon tried to capture him in a hug. “You’re probably the worst person I know. I don’t know why I’m even talking to you”.

Once again, Jooheon let out a long sigh as he rubbed a hand over his face in frustration. “Okay I get it. You’re annoyed”, he mumbled, defeated.

With an exasperated huff, Changkyun shook his head. “Annoyed?! I’m both angry and disappointed, Jooheon”. Honestly, he was beginning to sound like his own mother. He hoped it worked to get his point across, at least.

“Kyunnie, quiet down, you’re making a scene in front of-“

“How could you not tell me you have _two_ dogs?!”

“- the dogs…”, Jooheon finished belatedly as he eyed the pair of Labradors that sat in front of them. This made Changkyun shut up, his gaze immediately shifting to the dogs while he threw a hand over his mouth in horror.

Of course, he had been a bit overdramatic about the whole thing. Jooheon wasn’t the worst person he knew. He wasn’t _actually_  angry at him. Just shocked that the other had been hiding, not one, but _two_ dogs from him. They had been dating for a _month_ now and Jooheon hadn’t even mentioned he had dogs. No “I need to walk the dogs” or “you wanna see this picture of my dogs”. How could you just not mention that you had dogs? It didn’t seem realistic that it would be a coincident that Changkyun hadn’t heard anything about these dogs. Thus, he had concluded that Jooheon had intentionally kept them a secret from him, which had resulted in his sudden outburst. Now, though, he felt like a bit of an asshole. And not only because he might’ve surprised the dogs by being loud. Jooheon kind of looked like a kicked puppy as well.

“I’m sorry”, he mumbled, his voice so quiet Jooheon had to visibly process the words for a bit before he understood them. Once he did, a small smile found its way to his face.

“Don’t worry about it. I should’ve brought you home earlier, to be honest, but it literally took me a month to clean this place up”. Changkyun scrunched up his nose in disgust, to which Jooheon laughed. “I know. Now, do you wanna say hi to Bella and Rocky or are you gonna keep standing outside my door?”, Jooheon asked with a smirk, obviously already knowing the answer to that question.

Changkyun played with the dogs for the next two hours. Jooheon tried to get his attention a total of 9 times until he gave up. He pondered whether it had been a mistake to introduce his boyfriend to his dogs. As he watched the big smile on Chankgyun’s face he decided against it, though.

“Jooheon, you’re still in trouble”, breaking the silence Changkyun glanced at him briefly with a serious gaze.

Tensing visibly Jooheon felt his voice shake slightly as he responded, “What now?”

Looking at him with a teasing smirk, Changkyun turned his attention back to the dogs before answering. “I might love your dogs more than I love you”.

“You love me?” Jooheon teased as he quirked a brow upwards. Still, he couldn’t really contain the genuine smile that blossomed on his face at the younger’s words. It only widened, too, when he spotted the tips of his boyfriend’s ears beginning to redden.

Refusing to meet his eyes, Changkyun turned his back to Jooheon as he continued to play with the dogs. “I didn’t say that. You must be delusional if you think I could love someone who has kept _two_ dogs hidden from me for a _month_ ”. His voice didn’t sound as steady as he would’ve liked it to, but he supposed there was no way to save his little slip-up. No reason, too.  

Jooheon merely laughed, though. “You can visit them whenever you want to from now on”, he said as he stood up from his place on the couch to move closer to Changkyun and the dogs on the floor.

His answer seemed to cheer Changkyun up, as he turned around to smile at Jooheon. 

“You have to pay attention to me too, though”, Jooheon added and Changkyun’s smile fell in fake disappointment.

Changkyun hummed a tone as he visibly thought about the proposition. “I don’t know if it’s worth it, then”, he teased, though the smile that began fighting its way onto his face betrayed him. “Might just have to cancel the deal, man”.

With a brief laugh Jooheon slid down onto the floor behind him, dragging him backwards against his chest so that he could hug him. Changkyun felt something in his stomach flutter pleasantly despite it being nowhere near the first time he was this close to the other. “Love you, too”, Jooheon mumbled as he rested his head on his shoulder. There was a hint of sarcasm to his voice, but Changkyun still felt his feelings for his boyfriend blossoming even more at the words. It may have been too soon to start throwing around words like “love”, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care. It had felt natural when he had said it and it felt natural when Jooheon said it now. It felt safe, like a promise and Changkyun felt warm and content as he relaxed into Jooheon’s chest.

Turning around to peck his boyfriend on the lips seemed natural then, the feeling of having done this about a hundred times at this point calming any nervousness Changkyun might have about doing so. Jooheon gladly reciprocated with a few pecks of his own against his lips and then down his neck as Changkyun turned back towards the dogs in front of him, who had now curled up against his legs. Reaching out to bury his hands in each of their fur, he closed his eyes as a content sigh escaped him. The thought of how domestic this felt struck him then, but instead of feeling frightened by how sudden his feelings for Jooheon had grown so strong he felt nothing but comfortable at the possibility of a long future as a couple ahead of them. He wouldn’t mind coming home to this every day. To Jooheon, his warm smiles and soft touches. To barking dogs as he opened the door. To a place that wasn’t only his but theirs.

“Can I ask you something?”, he muttered, still not bothering to open his eyes.

Jooheon hummed in affirmation, his face still buried in his boyfriend’s neck. He seemed to be in a similar state of pure bliss as Changkyun.

“If we get divorced can I get the dogs?”

Changkyun felt Jooheon laugh against his skin before he raised his face from the crook of his neck so that he could answer with a teasing tone in his voice, “Are you asking me to marry you?”

Groaning loudly Changkyun let his head fell forward as a blush spread from his cheeks to the tip of his ears. “I-it was a joke-“

“I know, don’t worry about it”, Jooheon interrupted with a relaxed laugh as he rested his chin on Changkyun’s shoulder again. “I’d probably be the one to propose, anyway”, he mused as he reached a hand out to pet Bella on the head.

Changkyun knew he was right; Jooheon was the bigger romantic of the two so he didn’t for a second doubt him. Still the ever-present urge to tease his boyfriend persisted. “Is that a challenge?” Turning his head around once again, he looked Jooheon in the eye with a small smirk playing on his lips.

Jooheon merely shook his head with an exasperated laugh. Turning Changkyun around to face him properly (too both dogs dismay), his arms enveloped him around his waist as if to draw him even closer. Changkyun gladly scooted forward so that his boyfriend could press another kiss to his lips before resting his forehead against his own. “You’re ridiculous”, he muttered and while it would’ve sounded like an insult coming from anyone else it made Changkyun feel like being ridiculous wasn’t too bad when it meant Jooheon was going to smile at him like that.

“You love it”, he answered in the same low voice as Jooheon had used, the one saved for truths too embarrassing and intimate to say any louder. Changkyun felt confident in the statement though; love didn’t seem too big of a word to describe what he felt for Jooheon and he was sure that the same was the case for Jooheon.

As expected, Jooheon smiled a bit wider before answering, “I do”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading!!!!!!!! i think i rewrote this like 5 times which is the reason for the delay, sorry. i know this has been really messy but i hope you enjoyed it anyway!  
> to those of you who've left comments and kudos thank you so much! it's really nice to know that someone has actually read this and not well given up after the first chapter <3<3<3
> 
> once again, i would like to remind you that feedback is much appreciated - i would love to write more of Changkyun and Jooheon so any criticism is a big help for me! (as i've probably mentioned, english is my second language so if you've spotted some reoccurring grammatical mistakes pleasee feel free to point them out)


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